Right-wing commentator and writer Ann Coulter questioned the arrest and the following discussion over the possibility of deporting Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student who was arrested for pro-Palestinian protests on campuses last year. Khalil was arrested by the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) over the weekend and even President Donald Trump made a social media post mentioning Khalil’s name — blowing the issue out of proportion as his administration is trying to make an example out of Khalil. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said visas or green cards of such Hamas supporters will be revoked so that they can be deported.
Khalil’s lawyer Amy Greer said Khalil is a green card holder and he was arrested even after she mentioned the legality of his citizenship to the administration.
“There’s almost no one I don’t want to deport, but unless they’ve committed a crime, isn’t this a violation of the First Amendment?” Coulter said on the social platform X in response to a report from the New York Post. The First Amendment is the right to free speech.
After Ann Coulter’s post, social media users noted that even Ann Coulter, known for her hard-line anti-migration stance, is uneasy with the Trump administration’s plan to deport a green card holder.
What is the row over Mahmoud Khalil? What we know so far
Mahmoud Khalil completed his master’s degree from Columbia University in December. Before Columbia, he held multiple roles in international development including with the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. He studied for his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Lebanese American University, Beirut. Born in Syria, Khalil is a green card holder and is a US citizen, married to an American.
Khalil was at the forefront of the pro-Palestine protests that rocked the campuses last year. He was suspended by his university and was then reinstated.
Trump said Khalil’s arrest is the first arrest of many to come. “Following my previously signed Executive Orders, ICE proudly apprehended and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University. This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump wrote.
A federal judge in New York blocked the Trump administration’s effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil for the time being — until the court’s next order.
